Cancer Caused by ‘Bad Luck,’ Not Toxins, Pollution, Diet, Ridiculous Study Concludes

• Do Monsanto’s tentacles now reach into hallowed halls of Johns Hopkins University?

By James Spounias —

On January 2, a curious study from Johns Hopkins University rang in the New Year, concluding that two-thirds of all cancers are due to “bad luck,” not the environment or genetics. What does this mean?

The authors say that the cause of two-thirds of all cancers is caused by random faulty cell division in stem cells, not environmental toxins, such as tobacco smoke, viruses and carcinogenic chemicals. Genetics is also excluded, which means that your ancestors aren’t to blame, either.

Are Hopkins researchers on to something, or is this a clever way to deflect attention from the obvious corporate pollutants foisted on a largely unsuspecting public?

Let’s examine one controversial chemical compound that is on the radar of health-minded people: glyphosate, found in the popular weedkiller Roundup.

In 2001, author Marie Monique Robin in her book, The World According to Monsanto, recounts a sea urchin study done by a team under Professor Robert Belle of the Station Biologique de Roscoff, which is under the authority of the Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique and the Pierre et Marie Curie University in France. A member of Belle’s team, researcher Julie Marc, explained that “the early development of sea urchins is of the most recognized models for the study of cell cycles.”

Belle explains: “Concretely, we had sea urchins lay eggs. . . . Characteristically they produce large numbers of ova. We placed those ovocytes in proximity to sperm and put the fertilized eggs in a diluted solution of Roundup. I might emphasize that the concentration was well below that generally used in agriculture. We then observed the effects of the product on millions of cell divisions. We very soon realized that Roundup affected a key point in cell division—not the mechanisms of the cell division itself, but those that control it.”

Belle continued: “To understand the importance of this discovery, you have to recall the mechanism of cell division. When a cell divides into two daughter cells, the making of two copies of the genetic inheritance in the form of DNA, it gives rise to many errors, as many as 50,000 per cell. Normally, a process of repair or the natural death of the defective cell, known as ‘apoptosis,’ is automatically initiated. But a cell sometimes avoids the alternative [death or repair], because the point that controls damage to DNA is affected. It is precisely this checkpoint that is damaged by Roundup. And that is why we say Roundup induces the early stages leading to cancer. In fact, by avoiding the repair mechanisms, the affected cell will be able to perpetuate itself in a genetically unstable form, and we now know the origin of a cancer 30-40 years later.”

Interestingly, Belle first focused on glyphosate but shifted to Roundup because Belle observed that the additives in Roundup made glyphosate penetrate cells better, making Roundup more effective and deadlier than pure glyphosate.

Because glyphosate was registered to government authorities and not Roundup, Belle said: “That’s why I think there is a real problem with the registration process of Roundup, and it would be necessary to look more closely at the numerous additives that go into it [and] their interaction.”

Today, scientists and lay people on both sides of the issue use the terms glyphosate and Roundup interchangeably. However, the distinction is important because, as Belle notes, there was chicanery involved in the registration of Roundup. To register only glyphosate, and not the end product that is actually being used, is disingenuous.

Belle’s research is not the only study indicting Roundup as a cause of cancer. According to information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), leaked in April 2015, it was known as early as 1981 that glyphosate in herbicides can cause cancer.

Retired academic pathologist Dr. Stanley Ewen has argued: “Glyphosate has been implicated in human carcinogenesis by IARC [International Agency for Research on Cancer] and it is remarkable that, as early as 1981, glyphosate was noted to be associated with preneoplastic [pre-tumor] changes in experimental mice. This finding was never revealed by the regulatory process and one might therefore expect to see human malignancy increasing on the record in the ensuing years.”

Speaking for the Welsh organization GM-Free Cymru, Dr. Brian John said: “The evidence shows that by 1981 both Monsanto and the EPA were aware of malignant tumors and pre-cancerous conditions in the test animals which were fed small doses of glyphosate in the secret feeding experiments. Although concerns were expressed at the time by EPA committees, these concerns were later suppressed under the weight of conflicting evidence brought forward by Monsanto, some of it involving the inappropriate use of historical control data of dubious quality. None of these studies is available for independent examination. That is a scandal in itself. There has been a protracted and cynical cover-up in this matter.”

When we consider the full environmental assault brought on to us by tens of thousands of toxic chemicals, electromagnetic pollution and other factors that disrupt normal cell division and repair, is it really that mysterious why cancer rates have increased so that a whopping one in two people will develop cancer?

Or it is really just a case of bad luck?

James Spounias is the president of Carotec Inc., originally founded by renowned radio show host and alternative health expert Tom Valentine and his wife, Carole. To receive a free issue of Carotec Health Report—a monthly newsletter loaded with well-researched and reliable alternative health information—please write Carotec, P.O. Box 9919, Naples, FL 34101 or call 1-800-522-4279. Also included will be a list of the high-quality health supplements Carotec recommends.